March 30, 2022: Day 68 – I Samuel 11-15 and Psalm 10

We see the rise and fall of Saul in these chapters.  He rises high as he rallies the Israelites around the residents of Jabesh who are about to have their eye plucked out.  They say it is all fun and games until you have your eye poked out.  As a result of his initiative the people of Israel confirm his kingship and he has momentum that takes him into the next step.  

Samuel remains a central figure and gives a farewell speech which consists of making sure the people of Israel and Saul remember from where they came and that they must follow the commandments of the Lord.  Jonathan, the son of Saul, reveals himself to be quite a soldier with two instances where we see him overtaking the Philistines.  One of them is completely at his initiative which takes him out of the camp of his father for a bit and so he misses his father’s command to not eat until after the victory.  He almost loses his life over that one.

Saul leads the Israelites again on a rout but this time he does not obey God because he keeps the plunder and the king alive after the rout.  Samuel fixes the king part by killing the king in front of all Israel but tells Saul that the Lord has left him and that he will anoint someone else as king.  Nothing Saul says is able to change his mind and so we see that Samuel does not see Saul again.  We know that David is on the horizon, but his name is not yet mentioned.

Speaking of David, look at Psalm 10, it is a classic psalm of lament where the author asks the question: Why, O Lord, do you stand far off?  This could have been the question that Saul asks God or that David asks God later in his life as well.  The answer comes to the reader starting in vs.12 where we read that the Lord is King for ever and ever (vs.16).